BILL NUMBER: AB 1379	CHAPTERED  08/27/99

	CHAPTER   241
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE   AUGUST 27, 1999
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR   AUGUST 26, 1999
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY   AUGUST 16, 1999
	PASSED THE SENATE   JULY 15, 1999
	AMENDED IN SENATE   JUNE 23, 1999
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   APRIL 15, 1999

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Granlund

                        FEBRUARY 26, 1999

   An act to amend Section 7735 of, and to repeal Sections 7622.3 and
7651 of, the Business and Professions Code, relating to funeral
directors and embalmers.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1379, Granlund.   Funeral directors and embalmers.
   Existing law requires the Funeral Directors and Embalmers Program
to adopt regulations requiring continuing education for funeral
directors and embalmers.
   This bill would delete the requirement to adopt these continuing
education regulations.
   Existing provisions of the Funeral Directors and Embalmers Law
require the holding in trust of money or securities furnished under a
preneed funeral contract.  None of the trust corpus may be used for
payment of any commission or other expenses of trust administration.

   This bill would authorize a trustee to pay taxes on the earnings
of any such trust, as specified.  Additionally, it would prohibit any
of the trust corpus being used for the payment of taxes on the
earnings of the trust.
   Since a violation of the Funeral Directors and Embalmers Law with
respect to preneed funeral arrangements is a crime punishable as a
felony or a misdemeanor, this bill would expand the scope of an
existing crime and would thereby impose a state-mandated local
program.
  The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state.  Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
   This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  Section 7622.3 of the Business and Professions Code is
repealed.
  SEC. 2.  Section 7651 of the Business and Professions Code is
repealed.
  SEC. 3.  Section 7735 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
   7735.  No funeral establishment licensed under the laws of the
State of California, or the agents or employees of a funeral
establishment, shall enter into or solicit any preneed arrangement,
contract, or plan, hereinafter referred to as "contract," requiring
the payment to the licensee of money or the delivery to the licensee
of securities to pay for the final disposition of human remains or
for funeral services or for the furnishing of personal property or
funeral merchandise, wherein the use or delivery of those services,
property or merchandise is not immediately required, unless the
contract requires that all money paid directly or indirectly and all
securities delivered under that agreement or under any agreement
collateral thereto, shall be held in trust for the purpose for which
it was paid or delivered until the contract is fulfilled according to
its terms; provided, however, that any payment made or securities
deposited pursuant to this article shall be released upon the death
of the person for whose benefit the trust was established as provided
in Section 7737.  The income from the corpus may be used to pay for
a reasonable annual fee for administering the trust, including a
trustee fee, to be determined by the program, and to establish a
reserve of not to exceed 10 percent of the corpus as a revocation fee
in the event of cancellation on the part of the beneficiary.  In
addition to annual fees and reserves authorized by this section, a
trustee may, at its election, pay taxes on the earnings on any trust
pursuant to Section 17760.5 of the Revenue and Taxation Code.  In no
event, however, shall taxes paid on the earnings of any trust be
considered part of the fees or reserves authorized by this section.
   None of the trust corpus shall be used for payment of any
commission nor shall any of the trust corpus be used for other
expenses of trust administration, or for the payment of taxes on the
earnings of the trust.
  SEC. 4.  No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIIIB of the California Constitution because the
only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district
will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction,
eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime
or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government
Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of
Section 6 of Article XIIIB of the California Constitution.
